Airlines not deterred by current fines -- AbayaBusinessworldSTIFFER PENALTIES are needed against airlines providing substandard service, the Transportation Secretary said, following the series of flight delays and cancellations that marred Cebu Pacific Air’s operations during the holidays.
Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Quezon City on Wednesday that the Republic Act (RA) No. 776 or the Civil Aeronautics Act of the Philippines should be amended to allow for harsher penalties on airlines.
Earlier this week, regulators found that the country’s largest budget airline was at fault over the massive disruption of its services before, during and after Christmas day.
“I’m sure congressmen are hearing this. There is a need to amend the law. Definitely P5,000 for a multibillion-peso airline industry is something they’ll laugh at,” Mr. Abaya said.
He was referring to Chapter VII, Section 42B of RA 776, stating that “any air carrier or person who violates or fails to comply with any provision of this Act of the terms, conditions, or limitations in a permit or amendment thereto or any orders, rules, or regulations, issued by the Board, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding five thousand pesos for each violation.”
Mr. Abaya said that the P5,000 penalty “is something disproportionate to the inconvenience passengers have experienced.”
On Tuesday, the DoTC said in a statement that Cebu Pacific Air will face penalties due to the “appalling number of delayed flights” and “high absenteeism,” citing an initial report of an investigating panel composed of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and the Manila International Airport Authority.
Sanctions, according to DoTC Spokesperson Michael Arthur C. Sagcal, could range from a fine to the ultimate penalty of revocation of franchise.
“[There’s this] old Civil Aeronautics Act, which was approved in 1950; Back then P5,000 was a good deterrent, but now it’s not enough,” Mr. Abaya said.
According to data submitted by the airline to the panel last Dec. 29, Cebu Pacific had a total of 20 canceled and 288 delayed flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 from Dec. 24 to Dec. 26.
Cebu Pacific Air, its spokesperson Juan Lorenzo T. Tañada said, was due on Jan. 7, to submit a report to the CAB regarding its operations last Dec. 24-26. “The report was required by the CAB panel during the hearing last Dec. 29,” he said.